What matters is that the Eagles finally acknowledged they made a colossal blunder by putting so much hope in a player they knew was unreliable.
Shifting Andrews from guard to right tackle was the linchpin to the Eagles' revamped offensive line for 2009. But Andrews, who missed most of last season after battling clinical depression and having back surgery, didn't make it through the first day of training camp.
He tweaked his back running wind sprints and then took a sabbatical for the rest of the summer.
The Eagles finally thought they had their prodigal tackle back, as he was scheduled to start the season opener.
Andrews, however, was scratched days before the Eagles' 38-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers when the back apparently flared up.
None of that would seem too extraordinary if not for the fact that nobody seems to know what, if anything, is wrong with Andrews.
The doctor who operated on Andrews examined him about a month ago and said that the back was medically cleared and that Andrews could resume football activities.
That Andrews did not has been a source of irritation for head coach Andy Reid, a former offensive lineman at Brigham Young University.
You never want to question an injury, but in Andrews' case there is circumstantial evidence that the guy might not like playing football, or that he doesn't have a high enough pain threshold to be an effective NFL player.
There is a difference between being injured and playing with pain. The latter is a job requirement for making a living playing a collision sport.
Every football player plays hurt to some degree in every game.
"Despite receiving medical clearance from back specialist Dr. Robert Watkins late in the summer, Andrews was unable to overcome back pain to get on the field in the days leading up to the opening game of the regular season in Carolina," the Eagles said on their Web site.
